Hurricanes Earn Trifecta Over Oil Kings
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes played their second of a three-in-three weekend on Saturday night as they welcomed the Edmonton Oil Kings at the ENMAX Centre and earned a 6-5 victory bouncing back after a tough loss Friday night to the Prince George Cougars.
The Hurricanes started quickly yet again striking on a power play just 1:35 into the hockey game as Alec Baer tapped home a back-door feed for his third as a Hurricane and sixth of the season – Tyler Wong and Ryan Bowen picked up the helpers. The ‘Canes added to their lead at the 16:00 minute mark as Brennan Riddle scored his fourth of the season on another point shot that found the back of the net – Riddle now has three goals in his last six games. Hurricanes held a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes of play and outshot the Oil Kings 12-7 in the first period.
The teams traded a pair of goals in the second period. Lethbridge made it a 3-0 lead at the 2:15 mark as Wong snapped home his team-leading 31st goal of the season after taking a pass from Jordy Bellerive – Wong now has goals in five straight games. Edmonton cut the lead back to two, however, as Colton Kehler scored his 12th of the year on a power play to make it 3-1. The ‘Canes restored their three goal as Baer netted his second of the night and seventh of the season at the 6:34 mark – Kyle Yewchuk and Zak Zborosky picked up the helpers. On another power play, Kehler scored his second of the period with 48.5 seconds left in the period while on a five-on-three man advantage. Hurricanes held a 4-2 lead after forty minutes. Edmonton outshot the ‘Canes 15-8 in the middle period and held the edge 22-20 after two.
In the third period, the teams combined for a total of five goals. Just 2:43 into the period, Egor Babenko cut in on the left wing and snuck one through the legs of Patrick Dea to make it a 5-2 Hurricanes lead. It took all of 18 seconds as Trey Fix-Wolansky scored his 12th of the season. Giorgio Estephan scored his 22nd goal of the season at 5:38 mark on a feed from Babenko – Calen Addison picked up the second assist as the ‘Canes went up 6-3. Edmonton made it interesting late as Kehler completed his hat-trick at the 10:09 mark before Conner McDonald scored his third of the season with 1:28 left with an extra-attacker to make it 6-5 and that was as close as Edmonton would get.
The Hurricanes were outshot 12-6 in the third period and 34-26 in the hockey game. The ‘Canes went 1/5 on the power play while the Oil Kings were 2/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #8 Alec Baer – 2 goals
2) Oil Kings – #23 Colton Kehler – 3 goals
3) ‘Canes – #22 Egor Babenko – 1 goal, 1 assist
The Hurricanes swept the three games in eight days against the Oil Kings outscoring them 20-13 in the games. The ‘Canes improved their record to 24-15-3-3 on the season.
The Hurricanes complete a three-in-three weekend tomorrow afternoon when they travel to face the Calgary Hitmen at 4:00pm at Scotiabank Saddledome.
